Merkel and Sarkozy in 'Dinner for One'

Published: 30 Dec 2011 12:10 GMT+01:00

The scene is familiar – a drunk butler desperately maintains the illusion for his deluded mistress who refuses to see all her friends are gone – but a reworked version of the cult “Dinner for One” sketch features Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel.

Satirist Udo Eling worked with state broadcaster ARD to re-work Germany’s New Year’s Eve favourite, putting the French President’s head on butler James’ body, and the German Chancellor’s head onto the body of Miss Sophie.

Renamed “The 90th Euro Rescue Summit or Euros for No One”, the sketch features new dialogue too.

Merkel follows the original Miss Sophie in assuming her friends are there – but talks of former Greek Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou and former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. She also reprimands an absent British Prime Minister David Cameron that German would be spoken at the dinner.

True to the original, Sarkozy the butler drinks for all his mistress’ guests and gets increasingly drunk, earning the warning from Merkel, “Nicolas, think of your credit rating!”

At the end he helps her upstairs for what in the original is referred to as “the same procedure as every year” and in the satirical version would be conducted without eurobonds – and while the butler promises Sophie to do his best as ever, Sarkozy promises to give Merkel her his “triple A”.

The three-minute clip – in German – has been watched more than 200,000 times on YouTube since being posted there just before Christmas.

The original is a cult hit in Germany, broadcast every New Year’s Eve and watched each year by millions.

Your comments about this article

Merkel, " You have a hunk of snot hanging from your nose. Let me pick it for you before the British take a photo and put it on the front page!" Sarko, "You do too, and it looks bad! Let me pick your nose first! My finger is 'En guarde' !"

The president of Germany's Council of Psychotherapists said on Tuesday that there was no reason why the country should loosen its rules on doctor-patient confidentiality in the wake of the Germanwings crash.
READ